Interlocking Stabilizing Device

ABSTRACT

A stabilization device comprising of two identical pieces is disclosed. The pieces can be used individually as stabilizing shims, or it can be interlocked with one another such that it creates an adjustable stabilizer that can be reused again. The piece comprises of an external surface, an internal surface, an interlocking channel within the internal surface, and an interlocking guide that can be inserted into said interlocking channel.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims priority to the U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/979,859, filed on Apr. 15, 2014.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

None.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the present invention is directed to the leveling and stabilizing of articles, such as furniture and the like, which rest on a support surface, such as a floor, in order to prevent wobbling, tipping, or vibration during use.

BACKGROUND

Most articles of furniture are constructed to have a lower support structure, which defines a support plane at its lower most points. The operative or working areas of the article of furniture are then oriented in a desired manner with respect to that support plane by the support structure. For example, a typical table has a surface to support objects, which is oriented parallel to the floor and supported by a plurality of legs perpendicular to the table surface. Thus, the support plane of this table is defined by the free ends of the legs. However, planar geometry dictates that only three operative support points define a plane. Thus, it is necessary that the table legs be sized with great care in order to ensure that all four free ends terminate in a common plane; otherwise, the table will be unstable. When this happens, the article does not have a single stable support plane but rather is subject to unwanted wobbling, tipping, or as in the case of machinery—vibrating. Even articles, which have only three support points, such as a three-legged table, that automatically define a stable support plane, can still have the problem that the working surface may not be in the desired orientation due to any error in the intended length of any support.

Other articles that have rotating components, such as pumps, air-conditioners, fans, and the like, can vibrate if not properly leveled and stabilized. For example, an air-handling unit might include a fan. If the fan is not perfectly balanced then any instability in the support of the air-handling unit on its support surface might allow the unit to vibrate. In some cases, this vibration can be sufficient to cause damage to the unit, and often times produce unwanted noise.

Another common scenario for unstable pieces of furniture occurs in the food service setting, especially in locations where restaurants often move around chairs and table to accommodate various number of guests on a given table. In situations where dining table settings get moved around on a daily basis, such as garden or side of the street establishments, it is very common to encounter different sized gaps that a single sized stabilizer will not be enough to fully stabilize the piece of the furniture with the uneven ground. Even if a table theoretically can be stabilized on a particular location, the stability might easily be lost if the table were moved to a different location because the host requires a larger seating for a party, or the tables are removed from the spot for cleaning purposes.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a stabilizing device comprising of two identical pieces that can either be used individually or interlocked with one another in order to achieve a stable position on a given surface and an article that needs to be supported.

Each individual piece comprises of an external gripping surface, an internal surface, where said internal surface further comprise of an interlocking channel, an interlocking guide, and an interlocking height adjustment steps. A user simply inserts the interlocking guide into the opening on the opposing piece's interlocking channel, and by doing so the external surfaces of the pieces will respectively grip the bottom surface of the article that needs to be supported and the surface of the ground without slipping.

To adjust the height of the stabilizer, the user can simply pinch the pieces together. As the user applies force to the pieces, both pieces move along the interlocking channel, one step at a time along the height adjustable step until the desired height is achieved.

The stabilizer is designed to be reusable, and the shape of the stabilizing pieces allow commercial logos to be adorned on said pieces. The stabilizer can then in turn be distributed to the patrons of a commercial food establishment, either as a practical stabilizing tool or as a souvenir that has advertising purposes for the business owner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following descriptions, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 01 shows a perspective view of a version of the stabilization piece, showing the internal surface of the stabilization piece;

FIG. 02 shows an alternate perspective view of a version of the stabilization piece, showing the external surface of the stabilization piece;

FIG. 03 shows a perspective view of the internal surface device, showing the shape of the interlocking channel;

FIGS. 04A, 04B, and 04C show a series of views of an embodiment of the interlocking stabilization device in different height settings;

FIGS. 05A, 05B, 05C, and 05D shows a series of cross-sectional side views of a version the stabilization device in different height settings;

FIG. 06 shows a perspective view of a version of the stabilization device supporting a furniture leg;

FIG. 07 shows a bird-eye view of the internal surface of the stabilization piece;

FIG. 08 shows the detailed cross-sectional side view of a version of the stabilization piece;

FIG. 09 shows an alternate detailed cross-sectional side view of a version of the stabilization piece.

REFERENCE NUMBER INDEX

-   100 Stabilization Device -   101 Stabilization Piece -   102 External Gripping Surface -   103 Internal Surface -   104 Interlocking Channel -   105 Interlocking Channel insertion point -   106 Interlocking Channel exit point -   107 Interlocking Guide -   108 Stepped Ramp -   109 Commercial Logo Placement -   110 Furniture Leg

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 01 shows the preferred embodiment of the present invention as a whole: a stabilization device comprised of two identical pieces. The stabilization piece comprises of an external surface shown on FIG. 02, and an internal surface shown on FIGS. 01 and 03 in greater detail.

The external surface 102 of the piece is ideally made of a grip texture to prevent the pieces from slipping during use. In the preferred embodiment, the grip texture is achieved by having a plurality of raised nubs with the tip of the nubs creating a flat plane to grip the surface it is pressing or supporting against. In FIG. 06, the external surface holds the piece of the article and grips the surface of the ground so that complete stability is achieved. FIGS. 08 and 09 further illustrate the flat and level nature of the external surface.

The internal surface 103 is comprised of an interlocking channel 104, an interlocking guide 107, and a stepped ramp 108. The interlocking channel is further comprised of an insertion point 105 and an exit point 106 for the interlocking guide.

The symmetrical nature of the interlocking guide 107, interlocking channel 104, and height adjustment steps 108 minimizes the risk of the pieces from slipping out of position during use.

The pieces can be assembled together by inserting the interlocking guide 107 of the first piece into the insertion point 105 of the second piece, and by doing so the interlocking guide of the second piece is inserted to the first piece's insertion point as seen in FIGS. 04A and 05A.

To adjust the height of the stabilizer, the user can simply press the pieces together. As the user applies force to the pieces, both pieces move along the interlocking channel, one step at a time along the stepped ramp 108 until the desired height is achieved, as seen in FIGS. 04B and 05B. Once the adjustable height is achieved, the user can then insert the assembled stabilization device between the ground and the article that needs supporting 110, as shown in FIG. 06.

If the space that needs to be adjusted is narrower than the height of the two pieces assembled, the user can simply separate the pieces, and insert an individual piece between the ground and the article that needs supporting. It should be noted that interlocking guide 107 can be detached or broken off should a user needs to use a single piece of the stabilization device in order to achieve better stability.

To disassemble the stabilization device, the user can press both pieces together along the interlocking channel, pushing both guides along the channel into the respective exit points of both pieces. As the interlocking guides 107 exit the interlocking channel 106, the pieces are disassembled from one another, and can be reused or stored for future use, as seen in FIGS. 04C, 05C, and 05D.

The stabilizing device can be adorned with commercial logo placements 109 for advertising purposes. A possible use scenario is for business owners to hand these stabilizers to their customers and let the customers adjust and stabilize their seating during busy hours; not only the customers have souvenir that act as advertising material, but the customers can practically stabilize their own seating without involving the staff during peak hours.

In the Summary above and in the Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred version contained herein. 

1. An interlocking stabilizing device, comprising: a. An external surface, said external surface having a gripping surface; b. An internal surface, said internal surface having at least one interlocking channel, at least one interlocking guide, and a plurality of height adjustment ramps.
 2. An interlocking stabilizing device of claim 1, said interlocking stabilizing device further comprising a commercial logo placement.
 3. An interlocking stabilizing device of claim 1, where said gripping surface further comprising a plurality of raised nubs.
 4. An interlocking stabilizing device of claim 1, where said interlocking guide travels through said interlocking channel only in one direction. 